While the ''model minority'' stereotype of Asian Americans and its negative effects has been documented elsewhere, relatively little attention has been paid to how recent Asian immigrant students begin to embrace the stereotype while in schools. This study explores the identity formation process for a group of recent Korean immigrant students as ''model minority'' in an urban high school to empirically document the process. Through interviews and observations, I learned that the immigrants acquired an unauthentic American identity as a racial minority, constructed their status as ''model minority'' in response, and enacted the stereotype as they sanctioned those who couldn't live up to the stereotype. The aim is to add to the body of knowledge on the school experiences of recent Asian immigrants.

As the number of multicultural students in South Korean schools continues to grow, activists and educators argue that South Korean schools are not meeting the needs of both multicultural and mono-cultural students and advocate for multicultural education. While educational literature looks at the meaning of multicultural education and how it can be implemented in the South Korean context, relatively little attention has been given to pre-service teachers’ understanding of cultural diversity and multicultural education. This paper explores how South Korean pre-service teachers understand the increasing ethnic and cultural diversity in South Korean society and multicultural education in South Korean schools. The responses suggest that multicultural education for pre-service teachers should facilitate a critical examination of South Korean identity as a political construct. Furthermore it should empower them to actively define multicultural education in their own contexts as a way to politically engage multiculturalism in and out of school.